The Treaty Of Tordesillas
In the 15th century era, during the period of exploration and discovery of new worlds. Conflict arose between the two nations of Portugal and Spain over claims of newly discovered lands and territories. To resolve these conflicts, diplomatic negotiations ensued and an agreement was signed in a treaty called the Treaty of Tordesillas. The treaty of Tordesillas was an agreement aimed at settling conflicts over lands newly discovered or explored by Christopher Columbus and other 15th century voyagers. What led to this agreement, it's significance and influence to mordern day America are discussed below.
ORIGIN OF THE TREATY OF TORDESILLAS.
In 1493 after the report of Columbus discovery of new territories had reached Europe. Spanish rulers King Ferdinand of Argon and Queen Isabella of Castile enlisted Papal support for their claim of the new world in order to inhibit Portugal and other nations from doing same. The newly discovered lands held great potential wealth which would benefit Europe, hence early claim was necessary.
An international conflict ensued based on Portugal's claim of sovereignty over the newly discovered lands. According to the claim, the discovery violated the treaty of Alcacovas, a previous accord with Castile which granted Portugal control of any discovery south of the canary island in the Atlantic Ocean. Castile refused the claim, arguing that the discovery of the Americas was made through an expedition going west, not south from the canary island.
Pope Alexander Vi took action to clear up the conflict over the territorial claims. He issued a decree which established imaginary line(boundary) running north and south through the mid Atlantic 100 league from the Cape Verde island, giving Spain the possession of any unclaimed territory to the west of the line and Portugal the possession of any unclaimed territory to the east of the line. The Portuguese grew dissatisfied with the agreement when they realized that Spain was granted a much larger potion of land. A meeting was convened at Tordesillas, a Castilian town in northwestern Spain where Spanish and Portuguese ambassadors ensued in a complex diplomatic negotiations regarding the equal division of the new world. The meeting was concluded with the signing of the treaty of Tordesillas.
THE TREATY OF TORDESILLAS
This treaty was the agreement between king Ferdinand ll of Argon, Queen Isabella l of Castile and king John ll of Portugal. The treaty stipulated that any land with a Christian king would not be colonized (that time Christianity had not spread broadly in America). This meant that unless the land was already claimed by a Christian (European)ruler, by the term of the treaty, Spain and Portugal could claim practically any land they managed to conquer in the Americas.
Spain and Portugal divided the new world by drawing a north to south line of demarcation in the Atlantic ocean. All land east of the line were claimed by Portugal and all line west of the land were claimed by Spain. In 1506 the line of demarcation was moved an additional 270 leagues(about 1500 kilometers). By extending that actual position of the Tordesillas line, Portugal won right over Brazil and occupied it's territories after it's discoveries by Pedro Alvares Cabral.
Spain and Portugal were the only signatories of the treaty bacause at the time, they were the only European powers to establish a presence in the Americas. The future did not consider any future claims made by the British, French or other European powers of the respective times. Hence after several years, new comers (England, French, Britain) from the 16th century began to challenge the treaty of Tordesillas as against the monopoly of trade in the territories belonging to Portugal and Spain. They established colonies engaged in trade in these regions. In 1640, Spain and Portugal admitted the rights of foreigners to freely navigate these territories.
Significance/Effects of the Treaty to the Modern world
The treaty of Tordesillas was not only significant in ending the conflict between Spain and Portugal over claim of new world, it also influenced the order of the mordern world in these sense:
The treaty of Tordesillas is considered to be the first international treaty of the modern era because, besides the political representatives of the conflicting groups during the negotiation, two teams of geographers and experts participated in the negotiation to provide technical assistance in the diplomatic decision.
In modifying the demarcation line between Spain and Portugal, Brazil fell within the Portuguese zone hence Portuguese colonies ruled the nation of Brazil, influencing it's people with Portuguese language and culture. As a result, the current nation of Brazil speaks Portuguese as it's lingual Franca. Same with the Latin Americs whose lingua franca is Spanish as a result of it's colonization by Spain
The treaty of Tordesillas was signed in the Castilian town of Tordesillas in June 7th, 1494, rectified on July 2, by queens Isabella of Castile and on September 5, by John/joào ll of Portugal. The treaty was named after the two where it was founded.
